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Dive Logs for Vance Stevens PADI open water scuba instructor #64181 Dive 423-424 December 18, 2001 Oman, Muscat: Bandar Khayran

Diving with: Oman Dive Center, Bandar Jissa
Dive buddies: Bobbi and Dusty
Others in dive party: a couple of British schoolboy-looking chaps
Conditions: balmy, pleasant
Visibility: mediocre
Wetsuit combo: 5 mm farmer johns and Typhoon top
Weight:12 kg, carrying 2 kg extra just in case
Diving from:Dana

My 423rd Logged Dive since 1991

Dive site: Cave Site, used to have another name when I used to dive it
Training conducted: none, fun dive

Data from dive computer:

Interval on computer from previous dive: 20:59

Time down on dive computer: 10:14
Max depth: 25.3 meters
Time started up from chart: 44 min.
Dive time from computer: 47 min
Min Temp: 25° C
Nitrox 21% (normal air), no deco

PSI/Bar in: 200
PSI/Bar out: 80

Pressure group out, from tables or wheel: n/a

Description of dive:

The morning's dive wasn't all that great. For one thing, didn't see much. For another, the way the dive was set up, we moved into the shadow of the cliff face. Underwater, Bobbi recoiled thinking I was leading her into a cave. It was as if someone had turned down the lights suddenly, or a cloud had blocked the sun. But on the surface, we saw we had simply moved into the cliff shadow. I had a torch and continually shined it under ledges. I remember its beam illuminating morays and lionfish.

The dive was a wall dive with pretty soft corals and lots of fish. I'm trying to recall if there was anything remarkable. I asked my family what they could remember about the dive. Funny, none of us could pinpoint anything salient about it. I guess that means it was disappointing.

Surface interval: 56 min
Pressure group at start of repetitive dive: on computer, n/a

My 424th Logged Dive since 1991

Dive site: Easter Bay a.k.a. Turtle City
Training conducted: none, fun dive

Data from dive computer:

Time down on dive computer: 12:04
Max depth: 13.4 meters
Time started up from chart: 61 min.
Dive time from computer: 61 min.
Min Temp: 25° C
Nitrox 21% (normal air), no deco

PSI/Bar in: 200
PSI/Bar out: 70

Pressure group out, from tables or wheel: n/a

Description of dive:

After the first dive, I asked for Easter Bay on the second, on Mike Cubrilo's recommendation. He said he'd almost always seen turtles there. Turtles would be better than nothing.

We cruised slowly from the cave site to the bay, venting nitrogen as we ate biscuits and drank coffee. After an hour, we dropped in on a one-way trip around a low headland. The bay was shallow, and we had to move to the middle of it to get over 6-7 meters. Vis was decent, corals a lot of cabbage and such. Dusty became excited at the beginning of the dive and later claimed he saw an eagle ray and for the next few days claimed that this sighting made his day, and what a shame it was that his mom and dad didn't see it.

Other than that, not much until we moved around the headland and saw our first turtle. He was sitting comforably amid some rocks and though wary of us, was not inclined to move. We kept that critical distance, moving around him and getting a good view while avoiding setting him in flight. After a minute or so we left him alone.

We saw our second turtle right at the end of the dive. I had already released my marker buoy and we could hear the boat on its way. I had sent it up without releasing the crab at the bottom of my bcd skirt, but my family grabbed me before I could shoot to the surface (slap hand on forehead! duh!!). I was just descending from that near mishap when the turtle dropped in to see what the matter was. Being a good conservationist, it kept that critical distance, moving around us and getting a good view while avoiding setting us in flight. After a minute or so it swam off and left us alone.

Between turtles I don't remember a lot except that there were lots of honeycomb and silver morays, and lion fish, and trigger fish, and lots of other fishies enough to make us all think it was a good dive.